teifidancer: The Last Poets - Transcending Toxic Times

Wednesday 18 September 2019

The Last Poets - Transcending Toxic Times

Have just managed to get hold of the latest album by the Last Poets. Formed in 1968,they are wideely heralded as the godfathers of hip hop alongside the likes of Gil Scott-Heron. Their brand of politically charged poetry has inspired some of the biggest names such as al music released by African American musicians including Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Curtis Mayfield and Quincy Jones, and they eventually inspired hip hop giants like Dead Prez, Common,Public Enemy and Kanye West. Transcending Toxic Times features original The Last Poets Poets members Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan alongside longtime percussionist Baba Donn Babatunde and cclaimed bassist/producer Jamaaladeen Tacuma. Other poets on the album include Ursula Rucker, Wadud Ahmad, and Malik B (a founding member of The Roots).
50 years ago, Abiodun Oyewole was mourning the deaths of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King among many others lost in the struggle of the time. Looking to speak truth and challenge the thinking of both the oppressors and the oppressed, he formed The Last Poets. Soon after the group's inception, Oyewole met Umar Bin Hassan at a black arts event in Ohio, and Umar made the trip to New York to join them. Baba Donn Babatunde showed up later, adding percussion to their poetry.They were young men living in the black ghettos of Akron, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Jamaica Queens and The Bronx – all desperately seeking a different life to that of their parents, who in their eyes were too subdued, too damaged by racial oppression.
Inspired by the music of John Coltrane, the glamour of the Temptations and the politics of black pride, they started performing on street corners in Harlem where they immediately gained a following.The Last Poets got their name from revolutionary South Africn poet, Keorapetese Kgositsile poem that states that ‘’this is the last age of poems, and essays, guns, and rifles will take the place of poems and essays, therefore we are the last of poems of this age.’’ Ever since, The Last Poets, led by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, who died last year, have lived up to that name and line. Starting with their debut self-titled album in 1970, ‘This Is Madness’ in 1971, and ‘Chastisment’ in 1972. The latter fully introduced The Last Poets’ mix of jazz and poetry, doing away with the minimalist percussion of earlier albums. The Last Poets enjoyed a huge resurgence in popularity from the early 1990s onwards, appearing alongside the Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest on the 1994 Lollapolooza tour and collaborated with Common on the Kanye West produced track ‘The Corner’ which was nominated at the Grammy Awards in 2006 for Best Rap Performance.
The three men have persevered through decades of personal and political challenges, while still adhering to the higher principles of love, respect, and kindness to all humankind , they have long been a force to reckon with, known as conscious, enduring and politically potent poetry messengers, becomming mouthpieces for a socially downtrodden and unheard people.The huge impact made by The Last Poets’ words and music is still strongly felt until today.They are one of the more captivating spoken word Hip-Hop groups we’ll ever hear.

The Last Poets - When the Revolution Comes

The inauguration of Donald Trump as US President in 2016 inspired Hassan and Oyewole to resurrect the group to create a brand new record, ‘Understand What Black Is’, that was modern and edgy, and deeply relevant and reflective of our times.
Now comes Transcending Toxic Times which according to band members, is “not poetry set to music, nor is it music made for poets. This is a seamless transfiguration of the groove, the words, and the essential human elements that live between the notes and the words.” Moreover, the album is “a broad work of human emotion: anger, scorn, frustration, challenge, beauty, sorrow, love,"
This record blends poetry, jazz, Hip-Hop, and Soul, intertwining the groove of Black culture with The Last Poets powerful words and cadence. The spoken word is rhythmic, melodic at times,but politically charged throughout, and as with previous efforts, there are also socio-cultural messages that comment on the conditions of African American lived experience, the basslines and the groove are irresistible, intoxicating and the message is unavoidable, as they continue to press their nation for truth and equality, The Last Poets' standpoint is as important today as it ever was, and this album could not come at better time, in the recent past our society has witnessed many horrific events from War and Man Made Natural Disasters to Citizen turning against Citizen it is clear things have not changed much since 1968. The Last Poets words are as relevant today as they were then and even more so and reflective of the times we live in now..
To highlight the new album , members the Last Poets released a single "For the Millions." Initially published as a tribute to the Million Man March back in 1995. Oyewole's commanding voice details the African-American experience from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade to a present-day celebration of our resilience and the continuing quest for freedom. "Even when we have nothing to say / We are the sounds / That put color and spice in the day," he booms over Babatunde's percussion.

A glance at the album's tracklist reveals that 50 years after their inception, The Last Poets remain steadfast in their mission of shining a light on the issues of truth and equality. ‘’Rain Of Terror’’ is a truth sermon come to life in the form of reggae and drums. Starting a poem with the word ‘’America is a terrorist’’ and then riffing on everyone from Jack Johnson, Trayvon Martin, the Black Panthers, and the government approved groups that killed those individuals and groups.
The title track “Toxic Times” is a politically charged poem, where Oyewole calls attention to the current political climate in the United States, issues of police brutality against people of color, the consequences of climate change, and gender inequality. To these issues, Hassan points out that we must “learn to be humane, use power and not become vain,” and ultimately, “understand what love is…and make it a fact!”
This record is truly essential listening so thank you the Last Poets for continuing to make music that truly matters, for the mind, body and soul, challenging the listener to wake up.

The Last Poets Transcending Toxic Times tracklist:

1. We Are The Last Poets
2. For The Millions
3. A.M. Project
4. Heartbeat
5. If We Only Knew
6. Young Love
7. Black Rage
8. Soul Reflection
9. Don't Know What I'd Do
10. Personal Things
11. Love
12. JuJu JIMI
13. Rain Of Terror
14. Toxic Times

A.M Project - The Last Poets